Last week I went for my usual morning walk with my three shelties. My 13 year old dog, Graham, began
limping. It was a strange sort of limp and I feared she had torn her ACL,
displaced her hip, or ripped a tendon, since her back leg was just hanging down
and not touching the ground. I stopped and inspected it looking closely at her
paws and saw nothing unusual. So we
started again. She followed with a scowl on her face. I asked her if she wanted to return home. I could
tell that was not an option so I carried her a bit. After awhile I put her down and she continued to walk
slowly, limping in pain. She sat
down and chewed her paw again and even though I had already inspected it, I
inspected it again. This time I found
a very small piece of acorn-like debris between her foot pads. I removed it and
she immediately began to smile and jog!
She had not been able to manage her environment, but I could and we
continued on to the dog park.
Since my dogs teach me valuable lessons, I began thinking about my players.
Often when things seem wrong to them, and they are out of step, limping, I
believe something horrible may be wrong with them. My mind jumps to conclusions, is it a crisis? A horrible event? Something deep and dark? But, just like Graham, this pain may be
caused by something small and hidden, And I can probably help them relieve pain
with a simple smile, a word of encouragement, sharing a meal. Even though as humans
we live in time, we also need help from others to manage life's thorns. Often
something painful may not be as big of problem as it seems and we may be the
ones who are called upon to make a huge difference.
keeping the faith,
birdie
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